The Brilliant Abyss

by Helen Scales

"The oceans have always shaped human lives," writes marine biologist Helen Scales in her vibrant new book The Brilliant Abyss, but the surface and the very edges have so far mattered the most. "However, one way or another, the future ocean is the deep ocean." A golden era of deep-sea discovery is underway. Revolutionary studies in the deep are rewriting the very notion of life on Earth and the rules of what is possible. In the process, the abyss is being revealed as perhaps the most amazing part of our planet, with a topography even more varied and extreme than its Earthbound counterpart. Teeming with unsuspected life, an extraordinary interconnected ecosystem deep below the waves has a huge effect on our daily lives, influencing climate and weather systems, with the potential for much more--good or bad depending on how it is exploited. Currently the fantastic creatures that live in the deep--many of them incandescent in a world without light--and its formations capture and trap vast quantities of carbon that would otherwise poison our atmosphere; and novel bacteria as yet undiscovered hold the promise of potent new medicines. Yet the deep also holds huge mineral riches lusted after by many nations and corporations; mining them could ultimately devastate the planet, compounded by the deepening impacts of ubiquitous pollutants and rampant overfishing.

Eloquently and passionately, Helen Scales brings to life the majesty and mystery of an alien realm that nonetheless sustains us, while urgently making clear the price we could pay if it is further disrupted. The Brilliant Abyss is at once a revelation and a clarion call to preserve this vast unseen world.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Nature, Biology, Audiobook, Animals, Environment

Audiobook

First published February 18, 2021

About the author

In their review of my first book, Poseidon’s Steed, the Economist called me “The aptly named Helen Scales” and I guess they’re right. I do have a bit of a thing about fish (get it?).

Across the airways and in print, I’m noted for my distinctive and occasionally offbeat voice that combines a scuba diver’s devotion to exploring the oceans, a scientist’s geeky attention to detail, a conservationist’s angst about the state of the planet, and a storyteller’s obsession with words and ideas.

I have a Cambridge PhD and a monofin, I’ve drunk champagne with David Attenborough and talked seahorse sex on the Diane Rehm show. I spent four years (on and off) chasing after big fish in Borneo and another year cataloguing marine life surrounding 100 Andaman Sea islands.

These days I write books and articles, I make podcasts and radio, travel the world in search of stories, and do my best to spend as much time as I can in the sea as a scuba diver, free diver and rookie surfer. I’m a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a member of the steering committee for the Museum of Curiosity. I’m also a proud aunt, I sew dresses, grow organic vegetables, put on high heels and dance Argentine tango, play piano, sing in the shower, and make a mess in a printmaking studio.

Reviews

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

ARC received in exchange for an honest review 🐠

The deep sea is a fascinating and terrifying place. With so much of it yet to be discovered and explored, there is an uncharted amount of knowledge we can gain from the rich and beautiful abyss. However, with exploration also comes exploitation as an environment that has taken millions of years to evolve can be wiped out in an instance by human exploitation.

The Brilliant Abyss is written by Dr Helen Scales, a marine biologist who has a whole wealth of knowledge about these mysterious waters. She takes us through the luck of discovering new species and the unique way they have adapted to source food in the dark depths, through to the plethora of sponges and corals that make these waters their home. She also discusses the unique and delicate ecosystems of the deep and how essential they are to the global climate, by absorbing a lot of human generated warming to the planet, as well as the new potential medical finds. The deep, although still largely mysterious, is vastly important to our world.

Although incredibly facinating and well researched, there's only so much interest I have in regards to sponges and protocells. The writing does lean towards the dry side at times, and gets very heavily into describing the intricate details of the abyss which got a bit tiresome after a while. I much preferred the chapters on the various creatures who live here, although I found I was constantly looking up what they looked like. I read the ARC so am unsure if the finished copy will have pictures but this would have greatly enhanced my reading experience.

I also really liked the chapters examining the environmental impact humans are having on the deep. Microbial resistance via diluted human effluence is not something I've ever thought about, but its a terrifying reality. As is the realisation that we could, in the very near future, begin mining in the deep for mineral which could ultimately destroy millions of homes for creatures we know nothing about, and therefore their potential to help us.

Greatly detailed read that suffers with a lack of pictures to really visualise this environment and too much information on sponges for me personally. However, altogether a fantastic read for anyone interested in the deep sea.

[H (trying to keep up with GR friends) Balikov · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want to further your interest in the depths of our oceans, this is almost the perfect book. Here is how Scales opens the door to understanding this ecosystem that is unique, important and vulnerable.

Disclosure – I am fascinated by this part of our world’s life and have recently become affiliated with a scientific group that evaluates the threats to life in the “deep seas,” the Deep Ocean Stewardship Initiative https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
https://mailchi.mp/noc/dosi-deep-sea-...

” The oceans have always shaped human lives, but the surface and the very edges have so far mattered the most. People have walked the coastlines and settled along the boundary between land and sea; they’ve sailed across the waves to gather food and reach distant lands, to send armies and claim colonies, and to fetch exotic riches. Still today, a great deal of food comes from the shallow, surface seas where highways transport many of the everyday goods that have come to dominate the global economy. And people still retreat to the edges of the sea to seek tranquility, to stare into the wild waves and escape busy lives. What lies far below the surface has long remained out of sight and usually out of mind. Now, though, humanity’s close ties to the oceans are sinking deeper. This is without a doubt a golden era for deep-sea exploration. Assisted by new technological tools, such as deep-diving submersibles, scientists are opening up a more expansive and intricate view of the deep than we’ve ever had before. Not so very long ago, it was thought no life existed there at all, but in fact the deep is home to countless unimaginable life-forms.”

Scales covers most of what most of us would want to know about this almost “invisible” part of the world and her narrative skills are very good.

PART ONE: EXPLORE - Here Is the Deep; The Whale and the Worm Caught in a Jelly Web; In a Chemical World; Highs and Lows
PART TWO: DEPEND - Deep Matters; Deep Cures
PART THREE: EXPLOIT - Fishing Deep; The Eternal Junkyard; What’s Mine Is Yours
PART FOUR: PRESERVE - Green vs Blue; A Sanctuary in the Deep; Epilogue

There are many threats that range from the effects of chemical and plastic pollution to exploitation of sources of protein and raw materials.

After pondering this for a number of months my level of anxiety hasn’t improved with this new information. This is a true existential challenge and it must compete for attention with others such as pandemics and climate change. Because many current activities may create irrevocable consequences, and because solutions need to have almost complete cooperation among nations, I find it hard to be optimistic.

"In order to avoid the most catastrophic forecasts of the climate crisis, radical changes need to take place in the way global economies operate, the way food and energy are produced, the way vehicles are powered, the way buildings are built, heated, and cooled. Power stations burning coal, oil, and gas need to be switched off. Internal combustion engines, fed by liquid fossil fuels, need to become things of the past. To give up fossil fuels and bring greenhouse gas emissions crashing down will require enormous quantities of metals. Wind turbines, solar panels, and batteries for electric cars and trucks (maybe even one day for electric container ships and airplanes) will all be made from a blend of metallic elements, some in smaller but vital amounts, others in huge quantities. Our need for fossil fuels will be replaced by a new need for metals, but whether those elements need to come from the deep seabed, as Deep Green Metals and other mining corporations claim, is debatable. Predicting which raw materials will be used in the years ahead, where they will come from, is incredibly complex."

(The book comes short of five stars because of my petty desire for many more photos of the life deep in our oceans.)

[Montzalee Wittmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Brilliant Abyss
By Helen Scales
A wonderful book that explores the oceans and informs the reader in ways that make sense. It's difficult to understand just how deep the ocean can be but the author uses a 'drop the marble in the ocean' scenario and that really opened my eyes! How long it would take the marble to drop through each layer of the ocean until it hits bottom. Amazing!
The book explores the landscape, the unusual creatures that have adapted to the unique environments, man's findings that might prove useful for medical services, and the damage man has done to the ocean and it's occupants.
A great book but it would have been so much better with pictures. It had only one picture and that was at the end.

[K.J. Charles]

Interesting read on the ecosystems of the deep oceans, which are incredibly fragile and slow growing, and a passionate plea for people to stop trawling, dumping toxic waste, and strip mining them. Basically very depressing on human greed and selfish destructiveness, much like most books about the environment.

[Micah Cummins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have never read about the deep sea, or rather the abyss before. I came into my interest in the ocean only last year when I read The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery and become utterly fascinated with life underwater. The deeper you go, the more interesting it gets.

Helen Scales's The Brilliant Abyss held me enraptured for its entirety. Part science lesson, part nature tour, I found myself lost in the crazy world of deep-sea mountain ranges, volcanos, and forests. Not to mention the amazing sperm whale, giant squid, leaf slug, and giant pacific octopus just to name a few of my new favorite creatures.

This is a book that I will be reading again and again, and endlessly fascinating subject, written and explained beautifully, I highly recommend this to anyone curious about the deep.

[Rennie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Parts of this were so good and wonderfully informative, and others were just so dry. I know, you would think the oceanic abyss couldn’t be any wetter, but there you have it. I had to skim a good bit of the second half, but there’s a lot of really important stuff here. Like that we desperately need to stop treating our planet like a magically endlessly renewable resource that we can mine, fish, pollute, and pillage to our hearts’ contents.

“As soon as you stop thinking about it, the deep can so easily vanish out of mind — more so than that other great distant realm, outer space. The deep has no stars at night to remind us it is there, and no moon shining down. And yet, this hidden place reaches into our daily lives and makes vital things happen without our knowing. The deep, quite simply makes this planet habitable.”

And everything here about octopuses (that is the correct plural, thank you) was my favorite. Surprisingly not as much octopus content as I was expecting though! Always put more octopuses in it! That’s a good tip for books and life.

[8stitches 9lives · Rating 5 out of 5]

In The Brilliant Abyss marine biologist Helen Scales vividly brings alive the extraordinary ecosystem of the deep ocean—a realm about which we know less than we do about the Moon—and shows how protecting rather than exploiting it will benefit mankind. It illuminates the majesty and marvels of the deep sea. The deep is the single biggest habitable space on the planet and home to fantastic creatures that have evolved unique ways to survive in extreme conditions of super-high pressure, little food or company, and permanent darkness. A golden era of deep-sea science is underway, as scientists uncover more of the hidden living wonders in this vast space. Deep studies are rewriting the very notion of life on earth and hinting at the potential for life elsewhere in the universe. At the same time, scientists are realising just how vital the deep is for the whole of life on earth and seeing how this realm is increasingly threatened by deepening human impacts. More urgently than ever before, the deep sea needs to be known about, celebrated and protected. At the bottom of the Mariana trench, the water is chillingly cold and dark, with a pressure so high it can dissolve shells and exoskeletons. It is the ocean’s deepest point, lying almost 11 kilometres beneath the surface, and it is home to a remarkable crustacean. This shrimp-like creature is called an amphipod and it has an ingenious adaptation to survive the conditions: it uses metallic compounds from mud to make itself a coat that prevents its exoskeleton from dissolving. With this protection, the scavenger can scour the trench for the food that builds up there, funnelled to the bottom by underwater avalanches.

In The Brilliant Abyss, Helen Scales describes amphipods and the many other remarkable creatures that live in the deep sea. Weaving together the latest discoveries with well-known examples, she details the many fascinating adaptations that life has evolved to survive in a world unlike anything at Earth’s surface. There are vampire squid, for example, which hang around in the cold water waiting not for blood-filled prey, but to make edible snowballs out of the flurries of detritus that fall from the ocean surface that are known as marine snow. Then there are corals that started growing more than 4000 years ago and female octopuses that spend five years without food so they can brood a single clutch of eggs. And then there are the inconspicuous ultra-black fish that reflect hardly any light so that they blend into the background. After detailing this diverse underworld, the book takes a darker turn to explore the threats these creatures face from us. Deep-sea fishing is the most well-known example. It is “an industry that yields relatively trivial economic benefits but a fearsome capacity to vandalise our living planet”, writes Scales. An increasing threat lies in projects to mine the seabed to satisfy humanity’s growing demand for metals, particularly to use in the green tech needed for a low-carbon future. The choice is portrayed as one of green or blue, writes Scales, “the greening of global economies pitted against the health and integrity of the blue oceans”.

But she says there is a third path: recycling the metals we have already dug up. These problems are out of sight and out of mind to many. Scales lists why we should care about them, including the deep’s key role in feeding the surface fisheries that many people rely on for food, as well as its mitigating impact on climate change. “In total, a third of humanity’s carbon emissions make their way into the ocean,” she writes, “saving the Earth from an unthinkably swift and catastrophic version of the climate crisis.” While this is pragmatic, I do wish we didn’t have to think up positive ways to exploit an environment in order to convince people that it is worth protecting. The Brilliant Abyss is an enjoyable and accessible introduction to the deep sea, told with a passion that I found infectious. The stories of life’s struggle for survival beneath the waves are both fascinating and compelling and Scales’ evocative descriptions immerses you in the deep blue before you know it. Extensively researched, beautifully detailed and written by an author who is unapologetically passionate and forthright about this subject, I simply didn't want it to end. Packed full of interesting information and apt examples to illustrate her points, this is a must-read for those who care about the health of our oceans and ocean-dwellers. Overall, though, Scales brings to life this important part of our planet. What happens there is something we should all be concerned about. As Scales puts it: “The deep, quite simply, makes this planet habitable.” Unreservedly recommended.

[Elentarri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helen Scales always manages to write interesting, educational and accessible science books.  This one is no different, and has the benefit of including information new to me.  The book starts off with weird and wonderful creatures found at the bottom of the ocean, living under high pressure, on hydrothermal vents or seamounts: worms dissolving whale bones, vampire squid, glowing jelly-creatures, amphipods (giant underwater pillbugs), furry yeti-crabs, scale-footed snails with iron shells, corals and glass sponges, animals that get their food from symbiotic chemical eating bacteria etc.  Helen Scales tells the reader a bit about how these fascinating creatures were discovered and something about how they live.  The book includes a few pages of full colour photographs of these creatures.

The next section of the book discusses the importance of the deep oceans as a global climate control, and also as a source of medicinal compounds.  Pollution, toxic waste dumping at sea, and the effects of trawling and over fishing are also covered.  The most interesting and terrifying (to me) section of this book covers seabed mining.  This is a topic I've rarely (i.e. almost never) seen covered in any other book.  Helen Scales takes a look at how seabed mining would work (something like trawl fishing, only with robot tractors and scoops to scoop mineral nodules off the seabed or scoop the tops and sides off seamounts and hydrothermal vents), the possible impacts of seabed mining (disastrous), the feasibility of extracting precious metals from the ocean, existing regulations (the same organisation that hands out mining exploration permits is supposed to protect the marine environment) and other pertinent matters.

All in all, a fascinating and well written book about the deep sea.

[Philip · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent yet ultimately depressing book that once again points out how, at least when it comes to doing the bare minimum necessary to protect our planet, humans truly suck. (SO BE WARNED: this is going to be another "angry curmudgeon Phil" review.)

But I'm jumping ahead. The first three-quarters of the book are just chapter after chapter of fascinating, "never-knew-any-of-this-before" information on the bizarre marine life and ecosystems that make up the ocean's twilight, midnight, abyssal and hadal zones, (basically everything from 200 meters to the bottom of the Marianas Trench). From the various jellies to gossamer worms to yeti crabs to iron-shelled scaly-foot snails to the endless fall of "marine snow;" from fish with "ultrablack" skin that reflects less than 1% of light to a staggering array of bioluminescent creatures across multiple genera; from Everest-sized seamounts to deep sea vents to vast abyssal plains - "the deep" is as varied and bizarre as it is immense.

And yet it is also surprisingly fragile, and therein lies the rub. Because the last quarter of the book deals with all the ways that mankind in all its consumptive greed can - and has already begun to - $!#@ it all up. From trawl fishing that destroys irreplaceable thousand-year-old corals and wipes out slow-to-reproduce deep water species (such as 200-year-old slimeheads, rebranded for marketing purposes as "orange roughy"); to plans to mine - i.e., strip clean - the ocean floor searching for still-theoretical quantities of metals and minerals;* to ever-deeper drilling to exploit our dwindling gas and oil reserves; to increasing (and increasingly toxic) ocean pollutants found at every depth, from the surface to the bottom…science and the environment are being both literally and figuratively trampled by the "needs" of industry, politics and economics.

Why should we care? Well, first of all, simply BECAUSE.. But assuming that's not enough in itself, consider the very real possibilities of establishing truly sustainable fisheries and seafood farms in the surface/sunlit zones that could feed the world on a renewable basis, or the potential of new medicines based on deep sea bioactives to combat bacteria that are increasingly resistant to land-based antibiotics, or any of the many other ways Scales describes wherein we can exploit the ocean without simultaneously destroying it.

Alas. Published in 2019, the book concludes by noting that "the 2020s is the decade when all of this must happen - otherwise humanity will surrender itself to the worst possible version of the climate crisis." Well, here we are fully a third through the decade, and mankind still hasn't done shit. I'm almost starting to think that the only "bright side" is that humanity might wipe itself out - or at least knock itself back to the pre-industrial level - before we have a chance to take the whole planet down with us. Because otherwise…it's not looking good folks.

(I listened to the excellent audiobook version, but I'd recommend either also getting the physical book as well for the photos - or at least have Google handy to see what all the weird creatures here actually look like!)
_________________________________

* SYNCHRONICITY AT WORK YET AGAIN: Having just read 4-5 books on the Congo, the DRC makes an unexpected appearance here as well, in a section on mining the ocean floor. Apparently, the deep sea holds large amounts of cobalt, a necessary ingredient in electric vehicle batteries (at least as currently designed), which at present largely comes from Chinese-owned mines in the Congo, (and involves all the usual human rights abuses you would expect are inherent in the phrase "Chinese-owned mines in the Congo"). Kind of the last book I'd expect the Congo to be a part of, but…well, there ya go. Apparently, there's a whole book on Congo's brutal cobalt mines, Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives - but will put that aside for another time; I'm already depressed enough... :(

[Max · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was of course totally in my alley.. a marine biologist writing about the deep sea? Count me in!

I loved the writing, the stories, the overall mood.. of course there are many problems with people wanting to exploit the deep, but there is enough space in this book for fascination and discovery stories too.

This is very entertaining, and a must-read for ocean enthusiasts!

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! This is one of my favorite topics ever. The oceans and creatures that live within it, especially in the deep, are simply fascinating. In The Brilliant Abyss, Helen Scales did a great job layering insightful facts with evocative descriptions, which made it a very engaging read almost all the way through. Of course, as with most books, there were a few slow spots, and I'm sure if I hadn't been listening to the audio version I might have grown bored a few times, especially in the chapters about deep sea mining, but the author's passion while narrating the text did make those slower sections easier to get through.

I am so glad I decided to give this author another chance after reading the rather superficial Poseidon's Steed The Story of Seahorses, from Myth to Reality a couple years ago. She has certainly grown more skilled as a writer and I look forward to whatever she might write next.

All in all, a very fascinating and important read for anyone interested in the wonders of the deep sea, the ways that humanity have been harming it over the centuries, and ways that we might do better moving forward.

[Tymciolina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Krótko. To książka o bujnym życiu na przekór prawom fizyki, o potencjale ukrytym w genomie podmorskich stworzeń, o znaczeniu głębin dla klimatu Ziemi, o niszczeniu podwodnego życia przez głupotę i chciwość człowieka, w końcu o ochronie oceanów.

Przyzwoita, ale bez rewelacji.

[Sher · Rating 5 out of 5]

I say I love the ocean but could not name five animals that live in the deep sea… until now 😎 I always pictured the entire ocean as a monolith and Helen Scales conjured vibrant images of entire ecosystems, concepts and threats I had no idea existed. I loved this!

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Welcome to the what the deepest parts of the ocean has concealed from humanity for thousands of years and still does to this day.

Helen Scales starts with the geology of the ocean depths, their formation and how humans have managed to explore them.

But then we go into details about some of the hidden life and secrets that it holds - starting with the deep diving sperm whales and bone-eating worms in which there is evidence of their existence in 160 million-year-old dinosaur fossils.
-The jellied creatures from jellyfish, worms and more along with bioluminescence which helps the inhabitants find mates as well as dinner.
-Yeti crabs with their fringed claws that combs the snowfall of food debris from the surface, the scaly-foot snails and hydrothermal vents and chemosythesis ecosystems with their extremophile residents.
-Seamounts and slow-growing deep corals, octopus mothers not eating for nearly 5 years as their brood slowly grows, snailfish and brine pools. Colonies of black corals that have been found to be over 4500 years old
-The ocean providing heat and carbon sequestering along with the most ancient hints of life's first blossoming.
-Cures from the sea - all the biological chemicals and enzymes that provide new testing materials and chemotherapy resources.

But then comes man's exploitation of the oceans -
The overfishing, the devastation done to ecosystems as trawlers rake the depths, destroying habitats and clouding waters as well as capturing whatever couldn't get away no matter if that marine creature was the focus or not.
Then there is the dumping of pollutants and munitions and raw sewage, nuclear waste and poisonous chemicals. And no part is safe as recent exploration of the Challenger Deep has found candy wrappers on the bottom - and the deepest part of the trench is nearly 36000 feet deep and could easily cover Mount Everest with the surface nearly 1.2 miles away.
And the talk of mining some of the mineral nodules found across the Pacific basin. At the time of the book's writing in 2020, commercial mining was still not allowed and there is no proof that the mining would actually be cost efficient if - and when - it was actually permitted to start but many countries already have grabbed up leases, awaiting the day. Even when it was proven that damage done decades ago can still be seen when examined recently.

Yes, Scales does go into many of the negative aspects of what man has already done and what is planned for the future but her colorful and captivating descriptions provides a enjoyable introduction to those exotic creatures that are hidden beneath the waves. And gives many excellent reasons why our oceans should be protected and not exploited and used as a trash dump.

2021-164

[Chantal Lyons · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read a lot of natural history/pop science books about the oceans over the last few years, so it's getting harder to impress me. While it has its moments, 'The Brilliant Abyss' didn't seize my imagination as previous reads have.

For starters, the choice in narrative structure threw me off. We begin by seeing right through the author's eyes as she embarks on a research trip in the Gulf of Mexico to explore the deeps. It's a compelling introduction, but soon we disconnect completely from the author's experience as she delivers what feels like a series of undergraduate-level lectures on various denizens of the depths, focusing particularly on - dare I say - less charismatic species such as sponges and sea cucumbers. We do occasionally pop back to see what the author's getting up to onboard her vessel, but the disconnect remains; I still don't understand the purpose of the interludes in the Gulf because no actual science or exploration takes place (instead we're shown the control room where pilots are remotely operating the submersible). I was so curious to find out more about the author herself - what sparked her fascination with the deep sea, what journeys has her previous research taken her on? As it is, it feels like the book could have been written by a journalist relying on internet research.

The book gets a lot less dry once Scales moves onto the bigger ecosystem picture, and the last third of the book is an impassioned plea to protect the deep seas against human avarice. That said, I dismayed by her overt bias against the Marine Stewardship Council (full disclosure: I work for them). As an example, she mentions that the MSC was called up in front of the Environmental Audit Committee in 2019; but she chooses not to mention that the committee's conclusions about the MSC were highly positive.

(With thanks to Bloomsbury and NetGalley for a copy of this ebook, in exchange for an honest review)

[Sophy H · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic writing!

I am drawn to the subject of the deep sea as I think it holds wonders that we will never discover! And rightly so! The writing here is captivating and the photographs other worldly.

Helen Scales details how interesting discoveries have been made and amazing advancements in technology and medicine have been inspired by the mysterious deep. But lets face it, we are the worst malignancy this Earth has ever seen, we f**k everything up and ravage the Earth from top to bottom, leaving untold devastation in our wake.

I really want the deep sea to be the last place of refuge, where we leave well alone and let the weird and wonderful alien like creatures live in peace! So, as much as I am fascinated by the ocean, I hope that it is left well alone to thrive.

[Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I give five stars quite sparingly, so when I finished two books that I thought merited the rating in the same week, I felt like I'd won the lottery. (The other was The Winter Fortress: The Epic Mission to Sabotage Hitler’s Atomic Bomb, by the way.)

I read this -- along with another book on deep sea exploration, Below the Edge of Darkness: A Memoir of Exploring Light and Life in the Deep Sea by Edith Widden -- for a book club that allows members to chose whatever they like within an assigned topic. The topic this month was "Hi Tech," so there was ample coverage of technology in both books between deep sea submersibles, cutting edge imaging, and laboratory analysis of sea creatures.

But I was less interested in the technology than in other aspects of the book. It checked a number of my favorite boxes: Natural History. Exploration. Geology. Environmental Science. Evolutionary Biology.

Obviously, that's a lot of ground to cover, but Helen Scales was up to the challenge. Let me say that she's a remarkably clear and well organized writer. She has mastered tricky art of knowing how to present fairly technical or arcane material to a general reader. At no point was I confused or did I feel like skipping over material. She hit that sweet spot of keeping things interesting yet not being shallow, talking down, or getting bogged down. Kudos to her and her editors.

The other thing that I loved was learning new and surprising things. The chapter on whales was a favorite, and even though I'd read a history of whaling, Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America, been whale watching, and read my fair share of magazine articles about whales, I found this chapter to be a stand-alone gem.

Then there were the exotic creatures. Toss up as to whether my favorite was the iron-clad snail or the hairy "hoff" (as in Hasselhoff) crabs. At any rate, the chapters on creatures who evolved around sea vents was fascinating. As was the chapter on corals. Who knew that some deep-sea coral colonies got their start during the Bronze Age? I mean, come ON, that's so amazing!

Discussion of how ocean currents are formed, what the deep sea bed is like (and how surprisingly young it is), and on the stunning daily migration of deep sea creatures upward during the night all had me learning new things and loving it.

But the thing I most appreciated were the sections where, predictably, she addressed environmental impacts and problems. Overfishing (particularly deep-sea dredging, destroying those ancient corals, among other things). Pollution. Deep-sea drilling. And, lastly, mining. The chapter on mining was absolutely brilliantly done.

I am tempted to quote it at length (don't you hate that?) but will summarize in my own words. There's a movement underway to promote deep-sea mining for rare minerals as a more environmentally-sound way to develop technologies needed for solar power, wind turbines, car batteries, and other renewable energy sources. However, as she very persuasively argues, future technologies are evolving rapidly. No one knows which metals will be required, in what amounts, at what costs, and in what political climate.

And as she illustrates with convincing details, there are alternatives emerging which do NOT require the rare metals currently being used, or at any rate they require far less of them, and since deep-sea mining is quite an expensive proposition, it's doubtful that it would make economic sense to invest heavily in deep sea mining. In the meantime, the environmental impact of mining would be disastrous, especially given that we know so little about life in the deep sea. She mentions a handful of medical cures that have been discovered based on deep sea creatures' biology. As in the case of the rainforest, who knows what might still be out there and how it may open up entirely new fields or cures?

In short, I really appreciated the positive spin she placed on environmental issues. There was no hand-wringing or pleas to save the planet by using less plastic, important as that may be. Ultimately, it will be economic pressures rather than environmental considerations, that save us from ourselves and preserve life in the deep sea.

[Camelia Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nature books used to be my sanctuary. They still are, but nowadays they also devastate me. To be precise, it is what we humans do to our environment and the species who share the earth with us that devastates me. Under the current political climate, things look even grimmer.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent and interesting discussion of what's in the deep sea, where the science is at the moment and why it's under as much threat as the rest of the world from human-caused activity.

I'm reminded very much of this comic from the brilliant Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal: https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/mar...

[martucha czyta · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75. Na kuli ziemskiej woda zajmuje ponad 70%, nie bez powodu Ziemia nazywana jest „Błękitną planetą”. Nie każdy może być świadomy tego, że co drugi oddech zawdzięczamy właśnie oceanom, a za produkcję tlenu odpowiedzialne są głównie glony.

W książce „Otchłań” autorka, biolog morza, omawia role oceanu światowego. Ocean reguluje główne procesy zachodzące na powierzchni Ziemi, a wysoka pojemność cieplna jego wód powoduje, że jest on swego rodzaju regulatorem klimatu. Głębiny oceaniczne skrywają wiele tajemnic, panuje w nich wszechogarniający mrok, bo poniżej 1000 m promienie słońce nie docierają. Mogłoby się wydawać, że życie w takich warunkach jest niemożliwe, ale nic bardziej mylnego. Gdy w 1977 r naukowcy, przy pomocy batyskafu „Alvin”, po raz pierwszy zaobserwowali komin hydrotermalny zobaczyli też, że wokół niego życie kwitnie.

Ważną kwestią poruszoną w tej książce było wspomnienie o tym jak bardzo niebezpieczne dla Ziemi jest m.in. górnictwo głębinowe i rybołówstwo. Ogromny procent ryb jest przełowionych, jeśli nie zostaną wprowadzone regulacje i ograniczenia wiele gatunków ryb i owoców morza zniknie, co destrukcyjnie wpłynie na ekosystemy morskie. Dno oceaniczne jest bogate m.in. w różne niezbędne dla ludzi pierwiastki, ale eksploatacja głębin będzie miała negatywny wpływ na różnorodność biologiczną.

Pozwolę sobie zacytować Davida Attenborougha, przyrodnika, którego bardzo cenię „Oceany, światło słoneczne, pogoda i wulkany – wspólnie te potężne, choć delikatne siły pozwalają życiu rozkwitać w zadziwiającej różnorodności. Sprawiają, że Ziemia jest naprawdę wyjątkowa – jest planetą doskonałą. Nasza planeta to jedyny wśród miliardów innych planet świat tętniący życiem. Ale teraz, na oblicze Ziemi zaczyna wpływać nowa dominująca siła: człowiek”.

Bardzo polecam tę książkę! Czytanie jej była dla mnie bardzo ciekawą przygodą, momentami smutną, ale ważną.

[Zbigniew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bardzo ciekawa pozycja. Choć o samej biologii głębin jest tu najmniej. Właściwie trochę tylko w pierwszej części – ‘ Eksploracja’. Natomiast niezmiernie ciekawe są tu kolejne części, z których dowiadujemy się dosyć zaskakujących dla laika rzeczy. Np. że niezwykłe cechy organizmów abisalnych i hadalnych są intensywnie wykorzystywane przez naukę do opracowywania całkiem nowych generacji leków. Jak istotne znaczenie ma biologiczna oceaniczna pompa węglowa, a w tym aspekcie rola kominów hydrotermalnych. Z rozdziału ‘Eksploatacja’ dowiadujemy się o bezsensownych połowach ryb głębinowych, a przede wszystkim o zaawansowanych planach, górnictwa podwodnego, a właściwie o jego już istnieniu. Czyli o wydobywaniu na wielką skalę konkrecji z dna oceanicznego i eksploatacji kominów hydrotermalnych. Interesujące jest zwrócenie uwagi na techniczne różnice w morskich i lądowych fermach wiatrowych, które napędzają popyt wydobywczy na zgoła inne pierwiastki. Albo, że sprawność pojazdów spalinowych to tylko 30%, bo generują one głównie hałas i ciepło, podczas gdy sprawność pojazdów elektrycznych sięga 90%, przez co są jednak korzystniejsze z punktu widzenia ochrony środowiska, niezależnie nawet od sposobu pozyskiwania energii do ich ładowania.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

The deepest parts of the ocean are as alien or even more so than outer space, home to a bewildering array of unknown species and bizarre landscapes; here, creatures live for centuries submerged under miles of cold water, living in environments long thought to be inhospitable.

The Brilliant Abyss plunges the reader down beyond the sunlit surface of the world’s oceans to the abyssal plains and deepest trenches below. Here live all manner of wondrous things, where every deep dive finds something new. And yet, as Helen Scales shows, the deep ocean is under threat from exploitation: extensive trawling and undersea mining strip the seabed clean of all life. Humanity’s desire for cheap seafood and rare Earth minerals strips ecosystems in months that took millennia to develop. Some of the last untouched, undeveloped habitats are directly under threat by fishing and mining and it’s deeply depressing to see that the lessons of environmental exploitation on land are completely unlearnt in the ocean.

This is such an interesting and prescient book. The deepest parts of the ocean are so alien to us, less accessible than outer space and just as hostile to humans. Yet they harbour incredible creatures and potential new drugs and medicines. But wholesale extraction by mining or fishing threatens this delicate and ancient ecosystem. Sustainable fishing is possible, just leave the abyss alone. This is a deep dive literally to a new and ancient word - it deserves our respect and care.

[Renee King · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a beautiful book.

One cannot help but fall in love with the terrifying, mystifying, gorgeous deep sea and the marine life there. I mean, did you know about the Vampire Squid!? That's what I thought.
The most fragile creatures, the most hearty creatures, the beautiful, the beautifully grotesque, the hundreds and thousands of years in the making of trenches, canyons, columns, vents. This text is so rich in imagery and detail.

The oceans are integral to life on this planet.
You will learn about food webs, the carbon/oxygen pump, the absolutely urgent need to stop overfishing, polluting, and exploiting the seas. The entire second half of the book is a clarion call for all of us to do what we can to protest and push against deep sea mining. It is happening right now, still on a small scale, and not so visible or publicized. Big, vast plans for mining the sea shelves and beds are afoot and just waiting for permits to be given. The potential for climate disaster correlated to sea mining is like nothing else you've heard. It is far, far worse than cars and plastic bottles.
The end of the text contains names and email addresses of organizations for us to contact.
Read this book. Act. Don't delay.

Dr. Helen Scales is a talented writer as well as learned marine biologist. I am grateful for authors like Dr. Scales who can bridge that world of science to the world of non-scientists and drive home the beauty and importance of the oceans.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was really excited about the concept of this book, but it had a few shortcomings.

Liked -
- Detail summary of the various creatures living in the deep and all of their unique characteristics - it's quite an amazing place!
- Was great to get an understanding of the environmental impacts (deep sea mining, etc) that could impact the deep oceans.
- Easy to read as a layperson. Never got too technical.

Opportunities -
- Biggest issue was with the publisher. There needed to be more pictures and drawings of the animals and descriptions that the author describes. Would have added a ton of value to the book.
- Would have enjoyed more of a holistic approach to the deep - how do currents work? How/when were the deepest parts of the ocean explored? What are the mysteries of the deep that are still out there? Thought the author jumped too quickly to the specific animals and creatures of the deep and didn't provide the high level summary that would have been very beneficial.

Overall, an enjoying read, particularly if you enjoy the ocean. But not a book that I will be re-reading or one that will last in my memory.

[James Pappas · Rating 3 out of 5]

"As is so often the case, the slow pace of the deep is out of step with the timescale of impatient human demands."

The ocean is the most biodiverse region of our planet; it's also the cradle of all life in Earth's 4 billion year history. Its depths from the twilight zone to the hadal zone are truly Earth's last frontier. But being the last frontier comes with its set of problems.

Helen Scales wrote this very recently in 2021 and includes up-to-date discoveries and statistics. The oceans, and particularly its abysses, are perhaps the last remaining shield trying to hold back climate change, but the shield is breaking. Deep-sea miners see an opportunity in mining seabed nodule which contain key metals like cobalt and copper and nickel. The International Seabed Authority (ISA) is a global organization that must sanction commercial mining in the deep. Therefore, they hold the key for the future of these fragile, unique ecosystems; and very possibly for our planet. 3.5 Stars

[Georgina Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many words could be used to describe The Brilliant Abyss: eye-opening, curiosity sparking, mind-blowing, fascinating...and Scales writes so engagingly and with such insight and passion, that I now associate all of these words with the deep ocean.

I was pleased that Scales did not shy away from describing the countless negative effects which humans have bombarded the deep ocean with, and the consequences of our current actions - human impact on the ocean is integral to the ocean, sadly, and Scales encourages us to do what we can to mitigate this.

Astounding facts are every few pages; for example, a marble thrown overboard would take SIX HOURS to reach the sea bed, and life has been found in toxic brine pools which we thought uninhabitable. I finished this book - which is neither a doorstop nor a pamphlet - feeling like I had so much more to learn, and wanting to continue reading more about this fascinating subject.

[Emma Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative and well organized exploration of the deep!

I appreciated the way the author walked readers through the background of what the deep sea is and the wonders that fill it, before moving on to the human-sea relationship.

Although this was a book designed to teach, it also demands action from readers, laying out practical ways to be an activist in defense of the deep.

I left with a newfound appreciation and understanding of an area that I only had surface level knowledge of previously. At times I did have to push myself to keep reading, but I’m glad that I did.

[Irene · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned a lot I didn't know about the ecology of the deep ocean, even though I've read a few books on the topic already, so there's plenty new to discover for the casual deep ocean fans. The second half of the book was about the aforementioned looming threat of deep ocean mining, and it was hopeful and encouraging instead of the usual defeatist spiel. In short, if you live in a country in which the government is flirting with the idea of investing in deep ocean mining, you should contact your representatives and let them know how you feel about it.

[The Inquisitive Biologist · Rating 5 out of 5]

An unforgettable trip into the depths of the ocean, The Brilliant Abyss is a rousing rallying cry for the preservation of the deep sea. See my full review at https://inquisitivebiologist.com/2021...

[Rachel England-Brassy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A most excellent audiobook, well read by the author. This broke my heart but does offer some hope for our futures if we change our agricultural economic policies globally. I’m changing to a more plant based diet and if more of us do, hope for our near futures will be increased.
Highly recommended.